Container closure



March 26, 1940. w STRAUB 2,194,486

CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed June 4, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 @mm W lizvenl or' F. cSzfrau March 26. 1940. STRAUB 1 2,194,486

CONTAINER CLO SURE Filed June 4, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 26, 1940. w; STRAUB 2,194,486

CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed June 4, 193a- 3SheetS-Sheet s jizvenz or Walierfi 6rau5 I A further object is to provide Patented Mar. 26, 1940 amass CONTAINER CLOSURE Walter F. Btraub, ms; 111., assignor to w. r. Straub a Company, Chicago, Ill., a corpora-' tion of Illinois Application June 4, 19:8, serum. 211,850

, 1: Claims. (01. 215-44) 'lhis invention relates to improvements in container closures and more particularly concerns closures which are adaptedto control a flow of material therethrough from dispensing -con- 5 tainers.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved container closure of this type which is simple in construction and .highly efllcient. in

use and which can be produced at low cost by m simple manufacturing methods from inexpensive g and readily available materials.

In container closures of the typ with which this invention is primarily concerned, the crown of the closure has a discharge area including a 16, port through which material from within the container can be poured when the container is tilted. To close the port, a' slidable cover is mounted upon the closure to be shifted manually into port-closing or opening positions. Someprior closures of this type, in addition to'havlnz means] for retaining and guiding the slidable cover, require special stops on the closure or thecover for' limiting the extent of opening or closing movement of the-cover. In other prior forms u of closure, the ends of the cover have been engageable' with the walls of the container or with marginal beads-orfianges such .as are found on dredge-top cans. 1

Such prior fexpedients have generally been restricted-to use with containersfor granular or powdered spices'andthe like. Mi my have been impractical because-of thehigh cost 'of -manufacture or the difilculty of effectively manipulating the same, or for other structural u deficiencies. Few, if any,'haveprovided an inexpensive construc'tion :adaptable for use withdispensing containers for terials such as honey. It is therefore 'an. object to provide a cover 40 of inexpensive construction 1 adaptable for useon containers for viscous substances Mich-as honey. e More specifically, it. is 'an.obje ct to provide 'a container closure which can be used effectively 5 on dispensing containers for syrupy materials and which has an easily manipula'ble slidable cover for the discharge opening therein, the cover being guided for opening and closing movements by means engageable" with-the handle of the a cover to limit the movement of the OOVOl'zliO its extreme open and closed positions. I

Another object resides in the provision 'off'an improved liner construction for a container-closureof this-character..

a container cloviscous orsyrupy mam. 11' but showing certain parts in diflereut sure in which a partially severed portion of the closure within an area protected by the slidin cover is adapted to be bent away to form a discharge opening. I

A still further object is to provide a container closure which. is apertured or partially severed for the purpose of providing a discharge opening but is sealed against the escape of material therethrough before the, closure is to be-opened.

-Still another object is to provide an improved 1o dispensing closure cap and slidable cover there for, and a method of assembling the same.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in the following description and from the I accompanying drawings in which: l6 Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are perspective views of a container closure embodying this invention, applied J to a bottle tilted for pouring and showing the slidable cover of the closure in various positions.

Fig. 4 is a rear plan view 'of the closure. 20 Figs. 5 and'6 are sectionalv elevational views taken substantially alonglines 6-5 and 6-8 of 7 is an enlargedfragmentary transverse sectional view taken substantially along line. 1--.'| 25 of .Flg. 3.

Fig. 8 is a rear of the invention.

Fig. 9'is a transverse sectional view (if a furview of a modified form ther modified form of the invention.

, 80 Fig. 10 is a perspective view showing the closure in the course of assembly.

Fig. '11 is a transverse sectional elevational view of another form .of the invention. Fig. 12 is a top plan view of the device shown 35 in Fig. 11 with certain parts broken away.

Fig. 1 3 is: a transverse sectional view similar to operative relationships. Y

- Fig. 14 is a sectional plan view taken substanw 'tially along line ll-ll of',Fig. 13.

'While "the invention is susceptible of various ,modiilcations and alternative constructions, I.

have .shown in the drawings and will herein describe in detail, the preferred embodiments, but 5' it is to be understood that I do not thereby intend tolimit the invention to the speciflciorms disclosed, but intend .to cover all modifications and alternative constructions falling within the lrltjgndsoope of the invention as expressed I intheappendedclaims." 1

Q'npne preferred embodiment of the invenattachcdtoadispensingconwhich has a. generally cylindrical pouring neck I! to receive the cap. The closure cap II may be stamped or spun from sheetmetal and may have-a generally flat end wall or crown l8 'merging with an integral, peripheral attachment flange I8 The attachment flange I 8'- may be provided with spaced, inwardly projecting lugs IQ of conventional form for removable engagement with well-known lock-type threads upon the bottle neck I! (Figs. 5 and 9). -If it is desired to connect the cap i5 permanently to the bottle neck l1,'the edge of the flange I 8" may be spun after assembly with the container to provide an inturned flange 2! to engage within a shouldered groove 22 in the bottle neck (Figs. 11 to 14) In order to avoid the necessity of removing the cap i5 from the bottle neck I! when it is desired to pour material from the bottle, and also to maintain the discharging stream of material lmder control, the cap is provided with an opening-23 closed by a slidable gate or cover 24. The opening 23 is locatednear the margin of the crown l8 adjacent to the attachment flange I8 and provides only a limited discharge area. Preferably, the outer or pouring edge of the opening 23 is formed on a radius conforming to the annular outline of the cap and may be spaced from the attachment flange l8" by an intervening threshold strip 25. This strip is narrow enough Thus, referring to Figs. 2 and 7, the cove 24 in moving to a closed position first causes an attenuation of the fluid at the exposed portion of the end edge of the bottle and thencompletely closes the opening 23 by coactlng with the threshold stn'p 25. The spacing between the cover 24 and the end edge of the bottle is so slight that after the forward edge of the cover reaches a position opposite said edge (full line position Fig.

7) the flow of the viscous material will be substantially stopped before the cover is completely closed; Continuedclosing movement of the cover will attenuate such fluid as is left and will finally cut it off when the opening 23 is fully closed (broken line position Fig. 7) As a result of this. arrangement, substantially all of the viscous material that discharges from the bottle will pass away from the cap l5 by the time the cover 24 is fully closed and thus avoid outside accumulation of material on the cap at the forward end of the cover when the bottle is returned to nonpouring position. If any of the material tends to adhere to the threshold strip 25 after the flow v of discharging material has been stopped, the

final movement of the cover 24 thereacross to fully closed position will substantially clean the material away.

In order to facilitate manipulation of the slidable cover "24, it is provided with an intermediate to permit unobstructed flow of material from .handle or finger piece 30. In the present .inthe bottle neck I! and preferably is slightly stance the cover is made ofan originally fiat narrower than the thickness of the bottle neck plate or strip of sheet metal and the finger piece wall. This will expose a portion of the end edge of the bottle neck. The arcuate shape of the pouring edge of the aperture and the relationship of the strip 25 .to the end edge of the bottle neck will facilitate pouring fluid from the container in asmooth, formed stream.

Furthermore, the strip 25 serves to enact with 49 the remaining marginal portions of the crown to bear against a sealing gasket or liner 21 which lies against and spaces the inner face of the crown from the end edge of the bottle neck. Such liner may be weakened on a coaxial annular line as by means of scoring or perforations indicated .at. 22 (Fig. 8).

arcuate pouring edge of the discharge opening 23 in th cap and will thus always register with the latter when assembled with the cap. Through this arrangem' t, when it is desired to open the bottle for the slidable cover is opened to expose the discharge'opening hand the underlying portionfg'fthe liner 2! is severed along the weakened lirie 2! bypushing such portion out of the plane of the toward the'interior of the bottle asshown in broken outline in Fig.6 and in full outline in Fig. 'l.

"tion, the stream of discharging material will be gradually but definitely cut-on. This is of parunnecessary projections, the ends ofv the cover 24 e preferably shaped to conform to the peripheral outline of the crownof thecap in the closed position of the cover. Moreover, the for-.-

ward end of the cover is preferably formed with a relatively'abrupt edge so that asthe cover is slid toward closing position during a pouring operaticular advantage where the material,

indicated at 2! in Fig. 2, is a viscous or syrupy fluid such as honey.

The radius of the weakenedline. 28 is preferably coincident with the radiusof the 30 is formed .by folding the central transverse portion of the strip upon itself and bending the folded portion to a position at a right angle to the strip proper. Thus, the 'slide cover with its finger piece has an inexpensive but satisfactory construction.

As shown in- Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the slide cover can be easily manipulated through the medium of the finger piece 30 by one finger of the hand in which the associated container i6 is held. Thus, the container may betilted and held over the place where the material is to be poured (Fig. l) but the material will be held in by the closed cover 24. Then the finger piece 30 maybe engaged by an upward sweep of the index finger to slide the cover open and hold it there (Fig. 2). After the desired quantity of material has discharged. the index finger may be shifted to the opposite side of the finger piece to slide the cover closed (Fig. 3). This arrangement has the further advantage of 'enabling control of the cap 15, in the present instance comprises a plurality of oflset lugs or tongues." which are struck out of the crown l8. These tongues 3! preferably comprise twospaced pairs whichare in opposed alinement to engage respectively the front and rear sections of the cover slide 24- on opposite sides of the finger. piece 30.. The liner 2! will prevent escape of'material through the openings which are left in the crown of the cap by the striking out of the tongues 3|.

An additional function of the'retainingand i uiding'tongues 3| herein is to serveas positive.v

limiting stops to determine the fully. open and fully closed positions of the cover slide 24. To this end, the pair of tongues 3| which engages the front section of the cover'isso located as to engage the base of the finger piece 30' and stop the cover in the fully closed position (Figs. 1, 4 and 6). On the other hand, the rear pair of tongues 3| is so located as to permit the cover to be moved to fully open position. There the finger piece 30 will be engaged by the rear tongues to stop further opening movement of the cover (Figs. 2 and 6). The spacing between the pairs of tongues, 3| is less than the lengths of the front and rear tections of the cover 2 so that in its movement thecover cannot slide out from under. the tongues 3|.

Assembly of the slide cover 24 with the cap After the cover has been thus positioned, the,

handle fold is pinched closed (dot and dash position-Fig; 10) This can be effected either before :01 after the cap and cover are relatively shifted to move the pair of tongues 3i out of the V through a pair of appropriately dimensioned slots 3| opening inwardly from the opposite edges of that side of the handle which joins said remaining section of the cover. The slide cover will thereafter be retained permanently by the tongues 3i.

Advantage can be taken of the springiness inherent in the metal. or other suitable material of which the-cover 24 is made to assist in holding the cover in any position to which it is moved between the vpairs of tongues 3|. Herein the opposite sections of the cover are so related that after the handle fold has been pinched closed,

the sections will be in slightly divergent planes. As a result, the clearance between the offset portions of the tongues 3| and the crown l8 of the cap will be taken up by the sections of the slide cover which will engage the tongues and the crown with a slight frictional resistance. Herein this effect is attained by having the oposite sections of the cover initially in substantially a common plane so that when the handle fold is pinched together the sections will be drawn up into diverging relationship. This also results in forcing the extremities of the sections against the crown l8 and aids in attaining the attenuating effect upon the discharging viscous stream 29 hereinbefore described.

The'crown of the cap may be made air-tight by coating the inner surface thereof with a sealing material such as wax, indicated at 32 in Fig. 4. Thus, slight cracks around the'tongues 3i and between the cover 24 and crown will be closed; Moreover, the wax will tend to hold the cover 24 in its closed position until it is desired to open the container and the seal is broken by sliding the cover open.

It may be desired to seal the closure withga liner that will not require to be punched out for dispensing purposes. For this purpose a modified form of liner 35 (see Fig. 9) which is imperforate may be provided to seat sealingly upon the'edge of the bottle neck ll prior to opening the bottle for dispensing therefrom. This liner 3! can be removed by unscrewing the cap before within the cap I! will provide a seal between the crown i8 of the cap and the edge of the bottle neck i1.

In another form of the invention (see Figs. 11 to 14), the cap l5, instead of having a punched out discharge opening, may be provided with a tongue 31 scored or severed-from the crown on three sides and bendable out of the plane of the crown when it is desired toopen the cap for dispensing. In this form of the invention, a liner 3! within the cap may be weakened along an annular line 38" coincident with the severance which defines the end of the tongue 31. Then when .the tongue 31 is pushed inwardly to form a discharge opening, the liner will be. separated thereby along the coincident portion of the line 38 and bent inwardly to form a tongue 39 (Figs.

. 13 and. 14).

In order to avoid leakage through the line of separation in the crown of the cap at the tongue 31 during shipment or storage, a breakable seal is preferably provided therefor... Herein such a seal may be effected by a solidifiable material such as suitable lacquer, gum, wax or the like applied over and around the line of severance, as indicated at w in Fig. 12. Such sealing means l0, since it is interposed between the crown of the cap and the cover slide 25, may serve also to seal the cover slide in closed position until the cover is forcibly opened to break the seal. Thus, the. cover will be held positively in protective relation to the bendable tongue 37 until the container is to be opened.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the invention attains a number of important advantages among which may be mentioned the simplicity and ease with which the closure cap and slidable. cover may be manufactured and assembled and the'efllcient manner in which the cover controls the flow of material through the cap. Important features in attaining a low cost of production are the novel method of assembling the cap and slidable cover and the unique construction whereby the same means that retains and guides the slidable cover also coacts with the finger piece of the cover to define the open and closed limits of the range of movement of the cover. Another important feature resides in the cooperation of the slide cover 24 with the exposed edge of the bottle neck to cause an attenuation of the stream of liquid before finally losing the pouring opening. Moreover, although the crown of the closure is apertured, it can be effectively sealed to prevent accidental escape of material from the container.

I claim as my invention:

1. A closure cap of the character described opening, said cover having an upwardly extending part constituting a handle, and said end wall being provided with guide tongues for said cover coactive with said upwardly extending part todefine the limits of movement of the cover.

2. A closure cap for containers compris g, in

combination, a crown, a limited discharge area in said crown, a sliding cover for closing said area, manipulating means on said cover, and means on said crown engaging said cover for guiding and retaining said coverin its sliding movements, said guiding and retaining means being'engageable with said manipulating means to stop said cover in its fully open and fully closed positions.

3. A container closure having, in combination.

a limited crown discharge area adjacent to the margin thereof, an elongated slidable cover for controlling said discharge area extending entirely across the closure in the closed position, a transverse finger piece at substantially the center of said cover and dividing it into forward and.

rear sections, a pair of tongues offset from the closure adjacent to the margin thereof remote from said discharge area and overlying the rear section of said cover, and a second pair of spaced opposed tongues offset from the closure on a line intermediate the first mentioned tongues and said discharge area to overlie the forward section of the cover, said pairs of tongues coactingwith saidsections to guide and retain the cover and being disposed to coact with said finger piece to. determine the open and closed positions of. the cover respectively.

4. A closure device of the character described comprising, in combination, a cap having a dis- .charge opening and two spaced pairs of offset tongues, a slidable cover having opposite sections adapted to be received and retained and guided between the respective pairs of tongues and a transverse fold joining said sections and providing a handle for the cover, one side of the handle being of reduced width to permit the'passage thereby of one of the pairs of tongues in the assembly of the cover with the cap.

5. A closure device of the character described comprising, in combination; a slidable cover member including a handle and two sections extending oppositely in slightly divergent planes, and a cap having means for receiving said sections to-retain and guide said cover, the divergence of the sections effecting a frictional resistance between'said means and said cap to assist in holding said'cover in adjusted position.

6. The method of assembling a slidable cover having oppositely extending sections joined by a Y transverse handle fold with a cap having spaced pairs of offset retaining and guiding tongues which includes inserting one of the cover sections endwise between one pair of tongues and receiving the other pair of tongues within the fold. and inserting the remaining section between said other pair of tongues by relatively moving said remaining section and said other pair of tongues to shift the latter out of the told.

"7. The method-of assembling a slidable cover having oppositely extending sectionsjoinedby a transverse open mouth handle fold with a cap having spaced pairsof ofiset retaining and guiding tongues which :includes initially positioning the cover to place one section thereof between "one pair of tongues and to locate the other pair 1 *v to but inwardly spaced from the periphery of the cap and exposing a portion of the end edge of tongues'in the open mouth'of the fold, and pinching the. fold closed toshiit the'remaining cover sectionand said other pair of tongues relativelyto move the latter out of the fold into retaining relation to the latter section.

8. The method. of assembling a slidable cover having oppositely extendingsections joined by a transverse open mouth handle fold with a cap having spaced pairs of oflset retaining and guid ing tongues which includes-initially positioning the cover to place one'section thereof between onepair of tongues and to locate the other pair of tongues in the open mouth of the fold, relatively shifting said cover and said cap to move said other pair of tongues from said fold and to shift the remaining cover section into place between said other pair of tongues, and pinching said fold closed.

9. The method of assembling a cover havingopposite coplanar elongated sections and a transverse open fold joining said sections with a cap having retaining and guiding means for said cover offset from the plane of the cap, which includes inserting the cover sections under said means, and pinching said fold closed to brin said sections into diverging planes to take" up clearance between said means and said cap and eflect frictional resistance tending to assist in holding the cover in adjusted position.

10. A closure cap of the character described comprising, in combination, a crown having a discharge opening, a liner within said cap closing said opening and having an annular weakened line registering with the outer edge of said opening to permit separation of a portion of the liner along said' line to provide an opening through the liner, and a sliding cover mounted upon said crown for controlling said crown opening.

11. A sheet metal closure for a container com prising, in combination, a crown having a por-' tion thereof partially severed toform a tonguebendable out of the plane of the crown to provide a discharge opening, an inner liner for the closure weakenedon a' line coincident with the forward edge of said tongue to be separable by bending the crown tongue inwardly thereagainst, and a slide mounted. on the crown for closing the discharge opening.

12. In combination with a dispensing bottle for viscous fluids such as honey and having a pouringneck, a closure capfor said neck, interengageable means on said neck and said cap for securing the cap on the neck, said cap having a discharge opening extending to a line adjacent the periphery of the cap and exposing a portion, .of the end edge of the bottle neck, spacing means between said cap and the outer end of said'neck, and a cover for said opening slidably mounted on said cap for closing saiddischarge opening,-

said cover in moving to a, closed position first causing an attenuation of the fluid at the exposed portion of the end edge of the bottle neck and then completely closing theopening.

13. The combination with a bottle for viscous fluids such as honey having a pouring neck, of a cap for said neck having an end .wall with a discharge opening extending to a line adjacent warm Simon. 

